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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Top Ten All-Time Favorite Books

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. Everyone is welcome to join in. Please be kind and link back to us. Sign the Linky widget so that you can peruse other top ten lists from fellow bloggers and comment on others lists!

This week's top ten is:

What are your top ten all-time favorite books?

How awful is it to have to choose your ten favorite books? It's like picking your favorite child. Well, if books were children, these would be my favorites:

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling - I'm sure these will be my favorite books well into adulthood. Nothing beats them. Period. I can't even choose my favorite out of the seven in the series!

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - Of all people, my dad first recommended this book to me. He was a slacker all through high school, yet he dearly loved this book. The copy that he gave me has been ripped, stained, and fallen into the pool a few time. No lie, I think I've read it at least thirty times.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein - Oh, who can't help but love Bilbo Baggins? I adore The Lord of the Rings books, but The Hobbit, its prequel, it a much easier read. It doesn't go into as much detail about the scenery, the history of Middle Earth, Elvish songs, or the hobbit's hairy feet. Peter Jackson needs to get his stuff together and make this into a movie already!

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir - This is my all-time favorite historical fiction book. Lady Jane Grey fascinates me. She was literally forced onto the English throne in 1553 by her father at the age of sixteen, held the title of Queen for nine days, and was soon after executed by the orders of Mary I (the start of Bloody Mary, hmm?). Jane didn't want any of that, all she wanted to do was read her books. I can relate.

Avalon by Anya Seton - Another amazing book that soothes my inner history nerd. It follows a young woman in 10th century England as she travels with Leif Erickson and his crew to Greenland and back again. It has kings, queens, love, murder, and Vikings!

The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George - Tackling the complete, personal life of Henry VIII is no easy task, yet Margaret George captured the much misunderstood king wonderfully. At almost a thousand pages, it keeps me happily entertained for a long time.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - This is a really long book. It's also very predictable: poor orphan girl ends up with the rich guy. It's perfect. It's a classic.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory - The historical inaccuracies make me cringe, but this is the closest to enjoyable chick-lit I'll ever get, and I LOVE IT.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - This was one of those books that I felt I needed to read in order to be a well-read, educated person, but I'll admit, I was scared senseless when I pulled Anna off the library shelf. I can't even explain why I love this book...it's certainly not Leo Tolstoy, I almost had an aneurysm when I read War and Peace.

The President's Lady by Irving Stone - One of my favorite love stories! Better yet, it's a true one! Andrew Jackson sounded like a cool guy, but his wife, Rachel, sounded even cooler.

Haha, it is indeed impossible to choose a favourite book out of the Harry Potter series! <3 (I myself can't decide whether I like "Prisoner of Azkaban" the best out of... well, I adored "Goblet of Fire"... and "Half-Blood Prince"... but then there was "Sorcerer's Stone", and-- Moving on.) Great list. I've been curious about historical fiction, and wondering after some books to begin reading in the genre. I'll have to check out the ones you've mentioned, :]

I love your picks! I bought the autobiography of Henry VII but I know it will take me a month to read to I keep putting it off. I love Innocent Traitor as well, but I only put The Other Boleyn Girl on my list to represent my love of Tudor history, since thats the book that got me started. (And yes, the historical innacuracies make me cringe too). I picked Deathly Hallows as my favorite HP...I tend to like the last books in a series the best. something about the hero finally conquering evil or something :) Have a great week!

It's been awhile since I've read Anna, so I haven't been following the discussion Daisy...it's a lot to remember and digest!Entish, if I HAD to choose my fave, I'd probably choose Prisoner of Azkaban....but I love Half-Blood Prince and the Deathly Hallows too...and the Chamber of Secrets..ugh! (:Same with me Danielle, TOBG is what really started my love affair with that time period!

I'm very glad to be able to participate in your meme today. I love following you on twitter and reading your tweets! I'm glad to have been a part of it today. I love your list and there are some that I haven't read so on to the TBR list they go! Thanks for your amazing thoughts on each of them too! That's what I did as well.

This week's Top Ten really inspired me to go back and read some of the classics. I've downloaded Anna Karenina, The Woman In White, Middlemarch and Bleak House (it helps of course that the classics are all free). This really gave me a lot of great ideas. I saw Irving Stone mentioned quite a few times too.

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Rating System

0 Stars: Did not finish.1 Star: I didn't like this book -- felt more like homework than reading for pleasure.2 Stars: This book needed something different to make me like it.3 Stars: This book was good. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. I would recommend based on certain tastes.4 Stars: This book was delightful. I'm glad I read it.5 Stars: I really enjoyed this book. I will probably read it again.5+ Stars: A new favorite.

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